City of Ghosts

“Some people call it intuition, others second sight. That tickle at the edge of your senses, telling you there’s something more.”

Cassidy describes the sensations she experiences when she interacts with the spiritual world. Her experience is both physical and emotional as she feels the spirits tapping her physically, but she also experiences a profound curiosity and need to explore the unknown. Her desire to explore the mysterious calls to a child’s sense of adventure. 

“The faint groan of sandbags settling on their hinges. The whisper of air beneath the floorboards.”

As Cassidy experiences the other side of the Veil, the world is no less rich and alive. The author uses personification to describe the sights and sounds of the stage. By giving the objects human-like traits of groaning and whispering, the author makes the sounds feel vivid and real. The use of the literary device also adds a sinister and spooky mood to the moment.

“If we were in a comic book, this would be our origin story. Some people get a spider bite, or a vat of acid. We got a river.”

Jacob is a big fan of comic books, and the author incorporates the motif into this moment where Cassidy explains their mysterious bond. She references popular comic book superheroes like Spider Man in comparing her experience. Though she still does not fully understand what happened, she knows she and Jacob are united now, and the reference to superheroes foreshadows that they were brought together for a reason.